Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki has stressed that the goal of a government-backed billboard campaign launched across Western Europe on Saturday is to awaken the conscience of Western European politicians “who want to return to the ordinary ways of dealing with Putin’s Russia.”
The #StopRussiaNow banners will be mounted on platforms and on trailers across the continent, showing war photographs from Ukraine contrasted with photographs showing the everyday life of inhabitants of Western countries.
Morawiecki revealed that billboards will be transported to several cities in Europe and the whole campaign will be amplified using social media. “I will also travel to Germany and other countries to constantly remind what terrifying things are happening in Ukraine,” Morawiecki added.
“Germany, France, Austria, Italy, those countries must do as much as possible to stop the war in Ukraine, to stop financing Putin’s war machine,” said the Polish prime minister.
The photographs feature slogans that are meant to shake the conscience of politicians, as Morawiecki described it. He said that the sanctions imposed on Russia are too weak and “nothing special is happening” to the Russian economy. “Ukraine needs action here and now,” insisted the Polish prime minister.
One of the billboards has a picture of a child sleeping and hugging a teddy bear in Berlin, paired with a photograph of the war-torn Ukrainian city, Borodianka. Both pictures have a description “Where is the teddy bear of your child?” with the action logo: “#Stop Russia now!”
Large format posters with graphic symbols were also prepared as part of the campaign. On one of the billboards, a gas pump was depicted together with a slogan in English: “Blood oil funds Russia’s genocide in Ukraine.”
